Lazard Ltd (LAZ) Trading Up 4.6%

Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) shares were up 4.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $30.87 and last traded at $30.73, with a volume of 823,857 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.39.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LAZ shares. Credit Suisse Group AG reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Tuesday, June 28th. Nomura Holdings Inc. decreased their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 22nd. Finally, Nomura reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.78.

The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.72 and its 200 day moving average is $35.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.04.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 21st. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.15. The business earned $506 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $573.20 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lazard Ltd will post $2.86 EPS for the current year.

A number of institutional investors have modified their holdings of the stock. Karp Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Lazard by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Karp Capital Management Corp now owns 23,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after buying an additional 4,137 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA increased its position in shares of Lazard by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 23,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Deere & Co. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Deere & Co. now owns 29,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after buying an additional 9,373 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Lazard by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 39,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,790,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter.

Lazard Ltd (Lazard) is a financial advisory and asset management company. The Company operates in two business segments: Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory business segment offers corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign and individual clients a range of financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other strategic matters, restructurings, capital structure, capital raising and various other financial matters.